Homeless and Unemployed

There are some questions that most people immediately ask when they meet you.

Not interesting questions that they will remember the answer to. Generic questions that they feel they should ask when meeting a new person.

My favourites right now are What is your job? and Where do you live? because people are remembering my answers. I’m unemployed. And homeless. But I am very happy.

It is an unexpected response for most people as these two pillars form the base of their existence. Without them, people must be defined by other means. As I do not have a strictly defined home or occupation, who I am is more about.. who I am.

I met an Italian man a few days ago. I was terribly lost and he was walking past me with his one month old daughter in a pram. I asked him where the autostrade (motorway) was and he walked me towards the Italian-Swiss border so that I might be able to find a lift. As we parted ways he offered me 20 CHF (Swiss Francs) to take with me. I laughed and declined. A few days later, I was picked up by a Swiss man who took me to visit a waterfall. Rheinfall. He attempted to hand me a 5 Euro note as we were leaving the car park and once again I declined. He justified it by saying that he hated Germany, it’s a terrible country, and he wouldn’t go back there anyway. At this, I took the 5 Euros and thanked him.

It’s intriguing to see how people react to meeting someone without standard definitions. Maybe next time I will pretend to be something different to see how reactions vary.

If you threw your job and your home away, how would you define yourself? Who are you really?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Solve this if you are not a robot * + = ten

Send me very rare updates

Send me very rare updates

Notify me when new comments are added to this post

Hello, I'm Jamie

This is a site about dealing with fear and overcoming financial restrictions to find adventure in this great, big, wonderful world. I share stories of my adventures and offer advice so that you can have your own.Read more about my story.